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Going Up and Coming Down

We are reaching the half way point of the 2012 MLB season and with so many surprising players off to hot starts and too many early round draft picks struggling, we have compiled a list of players who's stats should be going up and matched them with a player at their position who's stats should be coming down in the near future.

Going Up

Coming Down

C

Alex Avila

Carlos Ruiz

1B

Ike Davis

Chris Davis

2B

Rickie Weeks

Aaron Hill

3B

Kevin Youkilis

Edwin Encarnacion

SS

Alexi Casilla

Rafael Furcal

OF

J.D. Martinez

Josh Reddick

P

Tim Lincecum

Matt Harrison

Catcher

Alex Avila - Before getting injured on June 5th Avila had raised his average to .250 from .222 in just 10 games. Last summer he finished the season going 56 for 172 (.325). If that is how he hits during the hot summer nights, Avila should finish the season with similar stats to last years breakout season of .295 19 HRs and 82 RBI.

Carlos Ruiz - Chooch is on an absolute tear right now after hitting .418 for the month of May while driving in 21 runs. But Ruiz is a career .274 hitter and owners should expect his average to finish somewhere between .275 and .300. Also the power is very odd as he has already matched his career high in HRs with 9.

First Base

Ike Davis - Davis is currently batting .264 for the month of June, which is where fantasy owners can hope he finishes the season at. The biggest key to Ike's success will be his ability to stay patient at the plate. His .418 OBP for June is nearly double his OBP for April and May and he already has more base on balls (14) in June then he did in April and May combined (12).

Chris Davis - Davis was hitting .309 over the first two months of the season before crashing down to .220 for the month of June. His June OBP is below .300 for the first time and he is a career .258 hitter so if you can trade him while he still has value, we suggest doing so!

Second Base

Rickie Weeks - Weeks has 12 hits over his last 10 games and 7 walks raising his season OBP from .290 to .316. His biggest issue this year has been his strike outs (81) which has nearly matched last years total (107) but he has cut down on the Ks this month. Weeks still has plenty of time to finish with the same .269 avg he has had the past 2 seasons.

Aaron Hill - In his last 10 games, Hill has 15 hits to just 3 Ks. Before this month he had hit just .266 for April & .260 for May. It is safe to assume this stems from his .210 avg on the road compared to .364 at home. Hill did hit 62 HRs over two season in Toronto, but it seems those monster years are over.

Third Base

Kevin Youkilis - Youk is hitting just .140 in June and a trade looks more and more likely each passing day. That is the best thing that can happen to Youk and his fantasy owners. Clearly he is not happy in Boston and the sooner he gets traded the better. We are talking about a guy with a carerr .286 avg who hit over .300 3 seasons in a row.

Edwin Encarnacion - Encarnacion is putting on a show in 2012, but he has already hit more HRs than last year, and is just 7 away from matching his career high, which he did 5 seasons ago in Cincinnati. Clearly something crazy is going on in Toronto with the way Jose Bautista has already found himself, but I do not believe this can last 162 games. He did hit 9 HRs in May, but he hit for just a .234 avg.

Short Stop

Alexi Casilla - Casilla hit .300 in April before a .197 May. He is back to .286 for June which has always been his best month (.288 for career) and July is his second best month (.277 for career) so things are looking up for Casilla.

Rafael Furcal - I hate to say this but you KNOW Furcal is going to get hurt. The last time he played in over 100 games was 2009, and before that was 2007. If you can get him off your team, you should do so before its to late. He is batting just .194 in June.

Outfield

J.D. Martinez - After a hot .282 start in April, Martinez has yet to hit over .200 in May and June. He has managed to hit 7 HRs and drive in 37 runs however, which is more than he did from August on last season injust 7 more games. He is a favorite here at We Talk Fantasy Sports and his minor league stats prove he is a hitter. We are just waiting for him to prove it at the Major League level.

Josh Reddick - Each month has slowed Reddick down just a bit, from .276 in April, to .255 in May and now just .246 in June. He hit 10 homers in May and just 5 in his other 159 Abs. His 26 Ks in June match his May totals, but in 33 less ABs.

Pitcher

Tim Lincecum - The Freak has been terrible this year. There is no denying that. And to make matters worse, June has been his worst month of the season with 7.56 ERA over 3 starts. Over the last two season ('09-'10) Timmy had just 3 months with ERA's above 4. He has 3 this year. But Lincecum has a career 2.94 ERA after the All-Star game and has been one of the most dominant pitchers over the past 5 years. While he might not dominate any more, he is good enough to work around these struggles and turn this season around.

Matt Harrison - Harrison has not lost since May 12 when his ERA was over 5. Since then his team has won 6 of 7 games and Harrison has earned 5 of his 9 wins, lowering his ERA to 3.41. But Harrison's career stats are not at their best in July, August and September, with an ERA over 4.50.